What Garage Door Repairs Should You Leave To The Pros?

If you have a do-it-yourself attitude, there are likely plenty of projects around the house that you feel completely confident in tackling yourself. You painted your living room, no problem. You changed the lever on your toilet, which was a breeze. You even patched a small hole in your living room’s drywall. But, what about your garage door?

When it comes to the mechanism that makes this heavy entry door go up and down, you might want to take a pass on fixing it yourself. Why? Some of the more common garage door repairs are best left to the professionals. Take a look at what these repairs are and why you need an expert to handle them.

Full Replacement

You need a new garage door, and you found one online. You also found a video on how to replace it. It seems easy, right? Wrong. There’s a reason why there are trained professionals in this area. Replacing a garage door isn’t exactly a simple process. Because a garage door is the largest moving piece of equipment in your house, compared to other home DIY fixes, such as painting or hanging a picture, this is a major project.

Not only can the pros install the door for you, but they can help you to pick the one that works best for your home. Keep in mind, just because something looks ‘good’ online or in the big-box store doesn’t mean it will work for your specific situation. The professional door dealer will come out and field verify all measurements before you order!

Electrical Issues

Unless you have training in handling the various components of your home’s electrical system, this is one problem that you really can’t afford to fix yourself. Electrical-related accidents are responsible for 5 percent of all job-related fatalities each year, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). And that’s among specialists who are trained to work with electrical systems.

Now imagine what could happen when an untrained person (that’s you) tries to work with live wires. Never try to rewire or fix the electrical components of your garage door opener. This is a job for the professionals. Doing it your self could result in burns, electrocution, or worse.

Springs and Cables

It may seem like making simple adjustments to the springs and cables on your garage door isn’t a major job. But these are parts that could easily snap and injure you. Adjusting these to the wrong tension may make them break, dropping the door down on you. Another possibility is that you could get hit with a flying spring or metal cable.

Along with the physical dangers of making these adjustments on your own, there’s also a high-cost element. If you break the parts of your garage door, replacing them entirely may cost you more than a professional adjustment would have. When it comes down to it, leave this one to the experts. They have the know-how and the tools to do it right the first time.

Panel Problems

One of the panels broke, fell off, or cracked. It’s just a cosmetic issue. At least, that’s what you thought. Fixing a panel on your garage door may much more than simple aesthetics. It may also include an underlying structural problem.

If you attempt to fix it yourself, you may end up damaging the door more than it was before. You also won’t know if you’ve actually gotten to the root of the issue. It’s possible that the panel broke or cracked because of a door malfunction. A pro can take a look, evaluate the situation, and provide the proper solution for the problem.

Does your garage door need a professional upgrade or repair? Call the knowledgeable experts at Shank Door at 1-800-480-4134 for a consultation about making your garage door safe and secure.